St. Luke s Episcopal Church Newsletter

Transcription

1 St. Luke s Episcopal Church Newsletter Advent Christmas 2016 A Letter from Our Priest-In-Charge Dear People of God at St. Luke s, As I write this letter, we are preparing for the last Sunday of Pentecost, which is Christ the King Sunday. It has been a long, difficult summer for everyone. I personally experienced how quickly life can change, literally in a blink of an eye, when I had my single car accident at the end of September, when I fell asleep at the wheel. Miraculously, only my car suffered physical damage. When the car finally came to a stop, my first reaction was over and over, thank God. And then I thanked God for the appearance of a stranger, a young man, Nick, who ministered to me as we waited for the police, ambulance and fire truck. Yes, all of the resources are mustered no matter how trivial the accident, for who knew? But now we are setting our eyes on Advent and Christmas. Advent is the season of hope in which we look forward to the coming of the baby Jesus, as well as the final coming of the resurrected Jesus in the end of time. It can be a confusing season. It also is an incredibly demanding season as there is much activity carol sings, concerts, shopping, black Friday s and Monday s, and so forth. It is St. Luke's Halloween Night also a difficult time for many, as they may be mourning the loss of loved ones, the loss of jobs, the loss of security. For many, the forced gaiety of the season only compounds their sadness.

2 Although it is a busy time, I invite you to participate in our Advent Study. We will slow down and spend some time with many of the people of the Christmas story, learn a way of praying that allows us to pray unceasingly (1 Thessaolonians 5:17), and end with a service of Compline. I hope you will be able to come to some or all of the sessions which start Wednesday, November 30 at 6:30PM. (See the announcement elsewhere in this Newsletter.) In our November Vestry meeting, we studied the passage from 1 Corinthians 12:12-18, in which Paul talks about how we are all one in the body of Jesus Christ. The body needs the foot and the hand, the eye and the ear, and so forth. Although very different, all are needed for the proper functioning of the body. So it is with the community of Christians. We are very different, with different opinions, but we all come together as one when we celebrate the Eucharist, the thanksgiving of God s gift to us. I hope this Advent is a season of prayerful hopefulness for you so that you can greet the baby Jesus with joy and thanksgiving this Christmas Eve. ~Mo. Barbara J. Clarke Jr Warden Updates Fall has been a busy one trying to get ready for winter and just getting projects done at church that have been needed for a while. Hannah Neal, a college student, has completed painting the undercroft and then she tackled the kitchen with fresh paint. Many thanks to everyone who pitched in to rake an abundance of leaves from those red maples in our front yard!! Several pickup loads were taken off to the dump and still we need to take more debris before it snows (or it may just have to wait til spring). A section of the roof has been repaired; however, we will need a larger section replaced in the spring and I will get a couple of bids before proceeding. The new pellet furnace seems to be working better this fall and should keep us more comfortable than last season. Recently several people have mentioned the poor condition of the driveway and paving in the back yard. I talked with two companies and found that a repair would be in excess of $5000 and would not last very long. Since time was short this fall to do paving, it has been tabled until warmer weather and I get quotes for a more complete and lasting job. More to come on this. ~Carolyn McLaughlin --Page 2

3 St. Luke s Acolyte Program Brenda Holman Three acolytes, very faithfully, continue to help prepare the altar for the Liturgy. Toby and Cooper serve once a month. They are ready to begin training for carrying the Crucifix in the processions, and, in addition, they ring the bell before church begins. Cady assists as acolyte and crucifer very regularly. She s always willing to fill in wherever she is needed and is our most senior and capable server! We are pleased to announce our newest acolyte, 5 year old Nora. She will begin serving on December 11 th. Christmas Eve all acolytes will be on duty. Toby and Cooper will be torch bearers and Levi will return as Crucifer. Cady will be the Thurifer, the one dispensing incense for our most high celebration. Nora will be the Boat Bearer, the acolyte carrying the incense. We are very proud of our acolytes who give of their gifts to the glory of God! This year the children s Sunday School is using a new curriculum through Cokesbury called Deep Blue which is geared to early elementary students. We began with the Old Testament study of Joseph and now we are learning about Moses. Learning and signing Bible verses are part of the study. New lessons for the winter start next week. -Page 3-

4 Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus Charles Wesley wrote seventy-five hundred hymns (Encyclopedia Britannica) roughly a hymn every other day for fifty years. I find that amazing! It would be amazing if he had written one verse every other day, but most of his hymns have several verses. I can scarcely imagine how he managed to do anything else but he was a great preacher as well as a great writer of hymns. The hymn, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, looks forward to Jesus Second Coming. It begins, Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free. Wesley looked forward to the time when Jesus would come again to set us free from fear and sin. Wesley knew what it meant for people not to be free. When he was about thirty years old, he traveled to America on a mission, where he saw slavery in its rawest form. He recorded in his journal that he had seen parents give their child a slave to torment. Wesley was so shaken by the evil of slavery that he nearly had a nervous breakdown. It wasn t long before he returned to England. Some would criticize Wesley for not remaining in America to join the fight against slavery, but Wesley s weapons were his sermons and his hymns. For the next several decades, his sermons and hymns lent their power to the efforts to make people free free from slavery free from fear free from sin. On Sunday, December 19 at 4 pm, we re going to carol around the neighborhood. We ll gather at St. Luke s a little before for soup & bread and to choose the songs we ll use. We had a great time last year and picked up some singers along the way. The consensus was that folks truly appreciated our visit. And we, as Episcopalians, have been challenged to get outside the walls of the church to be a part of our community. Join us and feel free to invite others! Caroling books provided. Please let Lisa know if you plan to go along. Note: Headlamps work better than flashlights for finding your way around and reading the lyrics at the same time. You can t dress warmly enough! -Page 4-

5 Where has the Doxology gone? While designing the liturgy we consider its shape and the gradual progression of heightened importance. So, we start out slowly with the Liturgy of the Word, which includes the readings from the Bible and the sermon. Then we claim our faith in the Nicene Creed, followed by Prayers for all the people. This segment ends with the General Confession and Absolution. We then greet one another in the name of the Lord with the passing of the Peace. Each of these steps are leading up to the climax of our worship which is the Great Thanksgiving which includes the consecration of the bread and wine. The elevation of the Elements(bread and wine) is the climax of this action. Putting the Doxology in the middle of this progression interrupts this flow, with what could be called a mini-climax of action during worship. That is why the Doxology is often replaced with spoken words that reflect what is happening in the offering of alms. This does not mean we may never sing the Doxology again. I think we might sing it during the Epiphany season and see if you experience what I have described. To sum up, not singing the Doxology gives us one climax of the Liturgy, singing the Doxology gives up two climaxes. ~Barbara Our annual outreach through Santa's Workshop will be here on Saturday, December 10 th from 9:00 to 11:30 am. Every year we gather a large quantity of items which we make available at dime store prices for children to buy as Christmas gifts for their parents. The items are arranged on tables according to price including a free area and kids come in while their parents wait out in the kitchen. It is a lot of work, and gets hectic, but seeing the kids with their bags for their families makes it worthwhile. Please sign up in the undercroft if you can help the day of and/or with set-up on Thursday, December 8 th at 9:00 am. Please see Justy FMI. -Page 5-

6 Incense - has been used since ancient times, originally probably to keep demons away. Jews used incense regularly (psalm 141) And no doubt the early Christians adopted the use of incense in their worship. Incense may be used for purification as is seen with Native American practice of wafting sage over one s body during religious rites, such as the Sun Dance. In Christianity, incense is both symbolic of our prayers lifting to heaven as well as for our purification. Traditionally, incense is used during the entrance, at the Gospel, at the Offertory and at the Great Thanksgiving. The Thurifer (the person who carries the Thurible (the object that contains the burning incense) with the boat person (person who carries the boat of incense) lead the procession in ahead of the Cross. At the reading of the Gospel, the gospeler censes the Gospel book, a sign of its importance. Notice that the censing involves three swings of thurible, to denote the Trinity. Before the Offertory, the priest censes the altar and then the Thurifer. The priest then hands the thurible to the Thurifer and the thurifer censes the priest and other ministers in the Sanctuary. Then the Thurifer goes to the entrance to the Sanctuary and censes the people in the congregation. Although incense is also used at the Great Thanksgiving, we probably won t do that at St. Luke s. Maintaining the coals at the proper temperature requires practice and experience which will take time and they may not be hot enough for the Great Thanksgiving. Every time the Thurifer censes a person or people, the Thurifer and the person or persons to be censed give a slight bow, acknowledging the action. Some Episcopal churches use incense for every Sunday Eucharist; others use it only for high feast days, such as Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. We have decided to offer it at those high feast days and the acolytes are hard at work learning how to handle the Thurifer and the boat. ~Barbara -Page 6-

7 HANNAFORD GIFT CARDS FOR THE HOLIDAYS! Do you know someone who could use convenient gift certificates for the holidays? Would you like to gift a student with groceries or other staples/supplies this semester? Hannaford Gift Cards are a simple solution! Using the card for regular purchases and gifts benefits the church, as St. Luke s receives 5% of every $1000 purchased, an easy way to support valued programs at St. Luke s. Christmas Eve Full Eucharist Service Saturday, December 24 th, 5:30 PM With Chancel Drama by Michael Cooper All are welcome The Gift of Love When you re working or walking or weeping, God is catching up with you in the wind cross your face, in the singing of a bird, in the free fall of laughter, in the soothing touch of a friend. You are the apple of God s eye. ~SSJE -Page 7-

8 The Winter Wood Arrives Mary Oliver I think I could have built a little house to live in with the single cord half seasoned, half not trucked into the driveway and tumbled down. But, instead, friends came and together we stacked it for the long, cold days that are maybe the only sure thing in the world coming soon. How to keep warm is always a problem, isn t it? Of course, there s love. And there s prayer. I don t belittle them, and they have warmed me, but differently, from the heart outwards. Imagine what swirls of frost will cling to the windows, what white lawns I will look out on as I rise from morning prayers, as I remember love, that leaves yet never leaves, as I go out into the yard and bring the wood in with struggling steps, with struggling thoughts, bundle by bundle, to be burned. -Page 8-

9 St Luke s will be sponsoring two families this season. The angel tree will be out in December, decorated with tags of Christmas wishes. Please stay tuned. Bless YOU for all you do for the community cut here Each Christmas Eve, the church is adorned with wreaths and ponsettias. St. Luke s purchases the ponsettias at $12.95 each. If you would like to donate in honor/remembrance of a loved one, please provide the name(s) you would like printed in the Christmas Eve bulletin. Checks can be made out to St. Luke s Church. Please return to the office by Sunday, December 18 th. You may also use one of the envelopes located in the pews during Advent Page 9-

10 St. Luke s Episcopal Church 59 High Street in Wilton, Maine P. O. Box 249, Farmington, ME stlukes@myfairpoint.net Web Address: St. Luke s Who to Contact Priest-In-Charge Mo. Barbara J. Clarke or Deacon: Rev. Corey Walmer Sr. Warden: Kevin Howley Jr. Warden: Carolyn McLaughlin Clerk: Jeannine LeVigne Treasurer: Dick Condon Other Vestry Members: Tony McLaughlin, Carolyn McLaughlin, Elecia Pillsbury, Michael Cooper, Ed Ferreira, Michelle Oullette Secretary: Lisa Lindsay Altar Guild Directress: Sue Staples Eucharistic Ministers: Rev. Corey Walmer Church School: Justy Nazar Acolyte Mentor: Brenda Holman Newsletter: Lisa Lindsay Episcopal Church Women: Carolyn McLaughlin Lectors/Lay Readers: Rev. Corey Walmer Search Committee Chair: Brenda Holman Page 10-